1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an airbag device for vehicles and, more particularly, to an airbag device installed in the roof of a vehicle such that, in the event of a vehicle collision, an airbag cushion of the device expands with gas and protects a passenger sitting in the rear seat of the vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of airbag devices for vehicles has been concentrated on front airbag devices configured to protect front passengers sitting in front seats.
However, when considering the reality that passengers sitting in rear seats are less likely to wear safety belts compared to front passengers sitting in front seats, it is required to positively develop airbag devices for protecting the passengers.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the related art, an airbag device for protecting a passenger sitting in the rear seat has been proposed. The conventional passenger airbag device is installed in a space between a head liner 10 and a roof panel 20 of a vehicle such that, in the event of a vehicles colliding, an airbag cushion 30 breaks the head liner 10 and expands with gas into the space between a driver's seat and a front passenger seat.
However, in the conventional rear passenger airbag device, the airbag cushion 30 is very quickly inflated just in front of the face of a passenger 40 sitting in the rear seat, so that the passenger may suffer injuries to his/her head and/or neck due to expansion pressure of the airbag cushion 30.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.